Loop Flushing

[Gavster]

It`s time for a coolant change and as this is my first custom loop I`m seeking advise on how far I need to go with the flushing.

Do I need to totally dismantle and clean everything individually or will a simple flush through with de-ionised water suffice?

I was looking at the Mayhems Blitz kits but noticed it says not to be used on plated products and my blocks are nickel plated so I guess that rules that out.

What methods and products do you guys use?

 

[Gavster]

Drain fully and take everything apart for a clean. I'll bet you right now you'll have some fin clogging if this is your first ever drain (flux, bits of metal from rads, residue from pipe cutting/bending if you used hard pipe/etc).

If your loop ends up literally 99.5/100% clean from radiator crap at some point, then future drains end up being much easier. Especially if you're using plain water with biocide/inhibitor. I've seen people not drain for years on this and be as clean as day 1. Just need to keep topping up biocide/inhibitor with a few drops every 3~6 months. Usually this is on hard pipe though (such longevity), soft tubing can introduce plasticizer leaching issues over time.

Ignore blitz kits, won't be needed. Well, as long as you haven't used a coloured fluid which quite honestly, you shouldn't be. Never worth it other than for +rep pictures on the internet.

Cheers Audioboxer, my loop has acrylic tubing and I use EK Cryofuel (acid green), it`s been drained and flushed once already when I went from 3080 to 3080ti, which was around 9 months ago but I didn`t strip it down, just a flush through and refill with new Cryofuel.

 

[Gavster]

There doesn`t look to be any sediment at all in the reservoir, the Cryofuel was a solid green now it`s not so solid. the GPU fins don`t look any different than they did when swapped the GPU.
I`m potentially looking for a new case at the end of the year, when the new Lian Li 011D EVO comes out and depending on the performance of the next gen GPU`s I might swap that too, so that might be a good time for a thorough strip down and clean, though if I drain it now and do find sediment or some crap in the flushing water then I`l have to bite the bullet and do it all now.

 

[Gavster]

Often isn't in the reservoir, or even blocks (if its fine sediment), it's the radiators that tend to get hit the hardest with the buildup. Opaque sediment goes literally everywhere lol, but as yours is dye/transparent unlikely to be as much and it will be finer if any.

GPU fins also tend to be quite broad, unless you've got a Corsair block. Their GPU fins can be as dense as CPU blocks lol. Check your CPU block fins if they are visible.

You're probably good to go, if any colours hold out OK, it tends to be dyes.

Thanks for your help Audioboxer.